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| Home / Pop-Ups / World of Pop-Ups! | ||
| World of Pop-Ups! | ||
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Artist Spotlight: Lucie Seifertova! By Jan Velinger Czech artist Lucie Seifertova is the author and illustrator of several successful children's pop-up books in Czech and English. Her books include Magical Prague and 2003's Children's Book of the Year: A History of the Brave Czech Nation. The success and popularity of her "history" - a massive single-volume comic - led to an exhibition at the National Museum in 2004. The exhibit featured parts of the book reproduced in massive size: a full 70 metre-long version. For the occasion Lucie's husband, musician Petr Prchal, better known as Pancho, produced a promotion CD with a song titled "Cechy krasne" - "Beautiful Bohemia", clearing want to keep his musical career in sight. Meanwhile, "A History of the Brave Czech Nation" sold 20, 000 copies in the first year alone. One of her giant pop-ups shows Prague's most famous avant garde landmarks - the Dancing House. However, the fate of ordinary people is never far away - in this case a beggar shown at the foot of the building on the street. Ms Seifertova says she enjoys drawing figures most, with spark and lots of humour, but also with sympathy for their fates. "I like drawing people most of all: it gives me great satisfaction when I can draw a funny face and expression. But, because I studied painting, and not illustration, I had to drop all elements of caricature for a time, and also grew to appreciate architecture and perspective, trying to depict the essence of objects. I try to combine a little bit of that with the illustrations I do now." Pop-up books and comics have a tradition in the Czech Republic but Ms Seifertova's immense history is different: events spill across the whole page - they are not presented in boxed windows. In this sense her work at times approaches traditional illustration, though it remains anchored in the comics tradition through ever-present dialogue bubbles floating above characters' heads. Lucie Seifertova has no lack of talent and her images and stories have struck a chord among both Czechs and foreigners alike, especially children. The books are meticulously done and they are funny; even in this age of electronic gimmicks, pop-up books still retain a genuine thrill. In "Prague Castle and its Secrets" the most famous halls and gardens at the Castle come to life, and scenes are commented by little characters with various foibles - great and small - historic or "legendary". For example, a dragon tries to cut a deal with St George to let him be: he offers that together they open a "Jurassic Park." "Yeah, everything worked out well and people now really know my wife's work," says Pancho. "It was a very busy year. Lots of things we had to do ourselves. Nobody ever produced a book like this before, and towards the end I had to go the printers in Slovakia sometimes as often as three times a week. We did most of the marketing campaign ourselves, so it was truly time-consuming." After countless headaches and many sleepless nights, "A History of the Brave Czech Nation" is testimony not only a successful marriage but a successful partnership in work: Lucie and Pancho have gone against the grain, and so far it's paid off. "So far it's all worked out, knock on wood. Pancho and I are pretty bohemian in our outlook, we're not accountant-types who would prefer spending our evenings counting profits and expenses! For both of us the number crunching is quite difficult and we're always relieved to discover we haven't gone bankrupt yet! Now that we've had a bit of success it's pleasant to be able to put finances back into new books and new projects. It's opened new opportunities for us in our work and that's very pleasant indeed." |
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